Field Of Gold and Hotazhell Headline a Must-See Edition of the Irish 2,000 Guineas

The Curragh Set for High-Octane Saturday Featuring G1 Highlight, Key British Raiders, and Homegrown Classic Hopes

Hotazhell, the Lone G1 Winner in Irish 2,000 Guineas Line-Up / ARCHIVO

DUBLIN, Irlanda (Special for Turf Diario).- Saturday’s G1 Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas (1600m, turf) at The Curragh, the first Classic of the Irish season, has drawn a field of nine and promises a high-class showdown between British raiders and the home team. Heading the charge is the courageous Field of Gold (Galileo), a gallant runner-up in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden and carrying the Juddmonte silks, the son of Kingman—himself the winner of this race in 2014—will be ridden by Colin Keane, who partnered Siskin (First Defence) to victory here in 2020.

Juddmonte will be triple-handed on the day, with unbeaten Cosmic Year (Frankel) representing Harry Charlton under Oisin Murphy, and Windlord (Lope de Vega), trained by Andrew Balding, to be piloted by Chris Hayes.

Adding further British firepower is Rashabar (Churchill), trained by Brian Meehan and ridden by Sean Levey, who captured last year’s edition aboard Rosallion (Blue Point).

The local standout is without question Hotazhell (Too Darn Hot), the only G1 winner in the field. Trained by Jessica Harrington, the colt bypassed a trip to France to stay on more favorable ground at The Curragh, where he has already starred with victories in the G2 Beresford Stakes and the G1 William Hill Futurity Trophy. He will break from stall 4 under regular rider Shane Foley.

“It was a tough call to skip France, but the broken track record there validated our decision,” said Kate Harrington, assistant trainer and daughter of Jessica. “Since then, we've freshened him up. I walked the track Tuesday and it’s in fantastic shape.”

Aidan O’Brien will saddle two with proven experience at The Curragh. Officer (Churchill), winner of the Listed Coolmore Stud Tetrarch Stakes, will have Ryan Moore aboard, while Expanded (Saxon Warrior), ninth at Newmarket, partners again with Wayne Lordan.

Rounding out the field are Scorthy Champ (Mehmas) from the Joseph O’Brien yard and Comanche Brave (Wootton Bassett), trained by Donnacha O’Brien, further spicing up a race sure to deliver a thrilling finish.

The Curragh’s Saturday card features nine races, beginning at 1:20 p.m. local time with the Avenuebloodstock.com Irish EBF Maiden. Final declarations for Sunday’s G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas and supporting contests are expected in the coming hours.